Schiff Calls on Turkey to Recognize Genocide

WASHINGTON—Reacting to the Monday’s announcement of protocols for the establishment and development of relations between Armenia and Turkey, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said true reconciliation will occur when Turkey recognizes the Genocide.

“While I welcome what may be an important step in the rapprochement between Armenia and Turkey and hope that the upcoming talks result in a swift opening of full diplomatic and commercial relations between Ankara and Yerevan, as well as a reopening of the border, I have serious concerns about some provisions of the protocols accompanying the announcement,” said Schiff on Tuesday.
 
“In particular, I was deeply disappointed to see that the protocols call for the creation of an historical commission to review the events of 1915-23.  This is a thoroughly discredited idea; there is no dispute among scholars that the Armenian people were the subject of genocide during the waning days of the Ottoman Empire and an historical commission is another effort to obfuscate the truth,” added Schiff.
 
“Turkey cannot be allowed to re-write this tragic part of its history as a price for normal relations with Armenia. To do so means acquiescence in a charade that demeans the memory of so many victims,” explained the Congressman.
 
“True reconciliation between the Armenian and Turkish peoples will occur when Turkey acknowledges the genocide that was committed by the Ottoman Empire against Armenians from 1915 – 1923. The Armenian Genocide, the first genocide of the 20th Century, resulted in the deaths of 1.5 million Armenian men, women and children and the sorrow that the Armenian people carry in their hearts cannot be healed by diplomatic relations alone,” reaffirmed Schiff.